Pets
The lunacy of emotional support animals
Naturally, the start of the new school year is often stressful for pupils. Perhaps those anxious children returning to their…
How big business pushed up vet bills
I was on my way to a Pilates class when I spotted Paul waving at me urgently from across the…
Don’t bribe your dog with treats
‘Do NOT look Lulu in the eye. Keep your voice low and soft and ignore her barking. Do NOT make…
Confessions of a catnapper
As Christopher Snowdon recently pointed out, the past few governments have had a habit of passing laws that are either…
The naming of cats
It took a long time for cats to gain the same serious status as dogs, but by the 18th century they were starting to have personalities, says Kathryn Hughes
The Spectator’s letters page is hazardous
Question time Sir: Your leading article ‘Sense prevails’ (13 April) is a valuable précis of the Cass Review into NHS…
Dog ice-cream: proof we’ve lost our minds
During the few hot days we had in June, I came across my first tub of dog ice-cream nestled among…
Feline mysteries
In his vast survey of felines wild and domestic, Jonathan Losos reveals, among much else, that a cat’s purr can convey hunger or panic as well as pleasure
Pie in the sky
Frieda Hughes adopts an unfledged orphan bird, regarding him as ‘a magical creature’ – but few others find him so engaging
A dog’s life
‘I saw the best minds of my generation destroyed by cat videos,’ begins Henry Mance’s How to Love Animals, winningly.…
Real life
Watching a woman driving a dog past my house like a carthorse is just another ‘new normal’ of lockdown. This…
Dog pounds
The hidden costs of the lockdown puppy boom
Pet peeve
Let animals be animals
How many dogs are there in Britain?
Model hobbies Asked what he did to relax, Boris Johnson claimed that he liked to make model buses. Some others…
The middle-class cats that are ditching meat
As I write, my cats and a visitor from the next street are hammering into their food, at nearly £5…
A hell-cat in heaven
Over the weekend I officiated at a funeral. Earlier in the morning there had been lowering rain clouds, but by…
The dogs of peace
From ‘Food dictatorship’, The Spectator, 27 May 1916: Nobody would like to see the whole race of dogs exterminated, but…
My soppy, dopey, deadly predator
Leo, the Hungarian Vizsla my wife brought home unexpectedly last year, is approaching his first birthday and not getting any…
Clumber spaniels
For the first time in more than 30 years we have no Clumber spaniel. We have had five: Henry, Judith,…
Chips with everything
Compulsory microchipping of dogs will hurt caring pet owners – but help busybodies
Your problems solved
Q. My husband-to-be and I both work full time. We are getting married from his family HQ and his kind…
Send in the clones
The super-rich are already bringing beloved dogs and horses back to life. Soon the rest of us will be able to do it too
